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Home , Barak, Jabin, Jael, Lapidoth, Mount Ephraim, Sisera

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DEBORAH AND JUDGES 4 Lesson # 31 REFERENCE: (The ) BOOK OF STUDY: Judges Season of Study: Season of Bringing the Savior into the world HISTORY The book of Judges belongs to the history section of the Old Testament. Judges is a period in the Season of Bringing the Messiah into the world. The book is believed to be authored by , the last Judge and the first prophet in .

1 The book covers a period of approximately 430 years in the history of Israel as a people. There was no national leader during the time of the Judges, such as and . Leadership was local from each tribe as needed, with God raising up leadership to address problems arising among individual tribes. Without a national leader the Children of Israel were required to depend solely upon the Almighty. During the period of the Judges, we witness the worse in men, but also the (Amazing) grace and love of God for His people. The period of the Judges not only allows us to witness the failure among the people of God, but also the faithfulness of the God who chose them to bring the Savior, or Messiah, into the world. INTRODUCTION Strong women have always figured into the plan of the Almighty. It has been said at times, “God used women only when there were no men to carry out God’s intended purpose.” However, that is not necessarily true! The lesson for the morning, disclosing women at the forefront of God’s work in Israel’s occupation of the land of , will show that these women are not there because of the scarcity or lack of males being present and available. These women, and Jael, are there because of their God given gift, and the guts and courage to use that which God has blessed them with for the glory of the Almighty God. It is imperative for the student to understand that in God’s bringing the Messiah into the world, God justly or rightly used male and female, women and men. Paul, in writing to the Church at Galatia, says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3: 28 – 29). THE PRINTED TEXT – (Judges 4:1 – 9; 15 - 24) And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, when was dead.

2 2 And the Lord sold them into the hand of king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was , which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. 3 And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord: for he had nine hundred of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel. 4 And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of , she judged Israel at that time. 5 And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in : and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. 6 And she sent and called the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward , and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of and of the children of Zebulun? 7 And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand. 8 And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go. 9 And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to .

And the Lord discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his , and fled away on his feet. 16 But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left. 17 Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite: for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.

3 18 And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle. 19 And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him. 20 Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and enquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No. 21 Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. 22 And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples. 23 So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel. 24 And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan. EXPLORING THE PRINTED TEXT I. The Encourager – (Judges 4: 1 – 9) Deborah, of all the judges in Israel, is the only judge who adjudicated or judged Israel in the sense of one who examined, refereed, or decided between opposing parties. Deborah was gifted by God as a “prophetess.” The scripture says, “a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.”

The text says of her, “She dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.”

In God’s purpose, Deborah was not only to adjudicate between parties, Deborah was gifted to judge and tell the Children of Israel what God was saying to them.

4 After the death of Ehud, God sold Israel into the hands of Jabin for their sins. Jabin oppressed them for twenty years and God raised up Deborah, the prophetess, to deliver Israel. It is said of Deborah, “she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? 7 And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand.”

Deborah inspires Barak by assuring him her message comes from the Almighty. Deborah says to him, “Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded, saying.” She assures Barak what she shared with him came from the Almighty God.

Every person truly led by God will acknowledge up front God’s leading of them and will take no credit themselves.

Deborah instructs Barak with the details of his mission from God. Her instructions to Barak were, “Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?” Not all of Israel would be involved in this battle, just the tribes of Naphtali, and Zebulun.

Deborah informs Barak that Sisera, the general in charge of Jabin’s army, would be delivered into the hands of Israel by a woman. Deborah, speaking for God, said, “The journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Surprisingly, the woman who would defeat Sisera would not be Deborah. Deborah nor Barak would receive the honor of striking the death blow to Sisera.

Barak, at Deborah’s command, was reluctant to go and engage the army of Jabin. He insisted however, that Deborah accompany him to the

5 battle. He said to her, “If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go” (Judges 4:8).

Barak is insistent that Deborah go with him to the battle, as the voice of God. He seems to say to Deborah, “If you don’t go, then God will not be with us.” Being a man of faith, Barak understood that the Almighty was not speaking to and through him but, it was necessary, and if they were to defeat Sisera, then the presence of God was needed on the field of battle. The presence of God always comes through His word.

Because of Deborah’s gift of prophecy, Deborah, in this period of the Season of Bringing the Messiah into the world, served as an “encourager” to the nation of Israel.

Deborah was not a warrior in the sense of carrying a metal sword and shield. However, she was a warrior in carrying the Word of God. The scripture admonishes, “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand…… take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:13, 17).

In Barak’s insistence that Deborah accompany him and his 10,000 men into battle, he was assured of God being on their side. Therefore, victory in the battle rested not in chariots, but in God’s chosen.

II. The Encounter – (Judges 4: 15 – 17)

Deborah and Barak encountered or met Sisera, Jabin’s general and his army of 900 chariots at the designated place appointed by the Almighty. Through Deborah, God assured Barak by saying, “I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand” (Judges 4: 7).

Not only did God instruct Deborah the prophetess/judge as to the designated place for the battle, but also the day the battle would be fought. “And Deborah said unto Barak, up; for this is the day in which

6 the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the Lord gone out before thee? So, Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him” (Judges 4: 15).

Even with a 10,000 man army, it is not the men of valor or of fighting skills who deserve recognition in the battle, for the deliverance did not come from Israel’s army, but from God. The army, with their shields raised and their swords drawn, does not receive top-billing in this battle. It is Jehovah God. The writer informs us, “The Lord discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot and fled away on his feet” (Judges 4:15). There was a supernatural or divine presence leading Jabin’s war chariots to ‘under-perform’ on the battle field that day.

The author and writer of the book of Judges leads the reader to understand that all that occurred during the time Deborah judged Israel, was of God Jehovah. Thus, we read concerning the conclusion of the battle, that “there was not a man left.”

Though Israel sinned continuously, God would bring His Messiah, the Seed of the woman into the world though Israel and He alone would receive the glory.

III. The Executioner – (Judges 4: 17 – 24) Before entering into battle, Deborah informed Barak, “the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman” (Judges 4:15). One assumes this woman would be Deborah. Not so! The person that would become the executioner of the feared general of Jabin’s army, would be a frail woman named Jael, the wife of Heber. Sisera proved his cowardice: brave while his army and chariots surrounded him, but as his men fled before the enemy, his courage failed, and he turned his back to Israel’s army and ran, hoping to escape. “And the Lord discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot and fled away on his feet” (Judges 4:15).

7 Sisera, in his running from the battle, sought refuge in the tent of Jael. The husband’s and wife’s tent were always separate. No man would have figured Sisera in the tent of Heber’s wife. However, Jael coached him into her tent, and with Sisera believing that his friendship with Heber made him friends with Jael; Sisera entered the woman’s abode feeling a degree of safety. This woman would become his executioner. Jael giving Sisera a glass of milk and covering him to further conceal his person; waits until he falls asleep, then methodically takes a tent peg, places it on Sisera’s temple and with a maul she drives it through his head pinning him to the ground. This completed the destruction of Jabin’s army. In the Season of Bringing the Messiah into the world through Israel, God in His infinite wisdom, used two women: one woman with a gift (Deborah), to judge Israel, and the other woman with guts (Jael), to break the leadership of Jabin’s army and to remove the 20 year oppression by the Canaanites. Because of these two women the scripture says, “And the land had rest forty years” (Judges 5:31). LIFE APPLICATION A little boy about 10 years old was standing before a shoe store on the roadway, barefooted, peering through the window, and shivering with cold. A lady approached the boy and said, “My little fellow, why are you looking so earnestly in that window?” “I was asking God to give me a pair of shoes,” was the boy’s reply. The lady took him by the hand and went into the store and asked the clerk to get half a dozen pairs of socks for the boy. She then asked if he could give her a basin of water and a towel. He quickly brought them to her. She took the little fellow to the back part of the store and, removing her gloves, knelt down, washed his little feet, and dried them with a towel. By this time the clerk had returned with the socks. Placing a pair upon the boy’s feet, she purchased him a pair of shoes. She tied up the remaining pairs of socks and gave them to him. She patted him on the head and said, “No doubt, my little fellow, you feel more comfortable now?” As she turned to go, the astonished lad caught her by the hand, and looking up in her face, with tears in his eyes, answered the question with these words: “Are you God’s Wife?”

8 WHAT WE KNOW ALREADY: PREMISE OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH: 1. God Is 2. God Speaks 3. God Speaks Through That Which Has Already Been Spoken - We believe the Bible to be the inerrant Word of God. WORKING DEFINITION OF GOD: God is the Personal Spirit, who in Holy Love, Creates. Orders, and Sustains all. SEASONS TO SPIRITUAL PERFECTION God created the physical universe in six (6) days.

God creates the perfect universe in six (6) seasons. “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new , coming down from God out of the heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Revelation 21:1 - 2). 1. Season of Beginnings - Genesis 1 - 3 2. Season of Boundaries and Borders - Genesis 4 - 11 3. Season of Bringing Christ or the Messiah into the World - Genesis 12 – Thru the Gospel of John 4. Season of Broadcasting Christ to the World - Acts - Revelation 5. Season of Burdens and Tribulations - Revelation 6. Season of Birthing a New Creation - Revelation

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